Friedman: 'Ridiculous' to say Sasaki chose Dodgers ahead of time

Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman dismissed talk of having a prearranged deal with Roki Sasaki.

"There's going to be noise, it's so ridiculous," Friedman said during a radio interview on AM 570 LA Sports.

"The funniest, for me, is people who said before the process started 'Oh he's gonna go to the Dodgers' and then he went to the Dodgers and they said 'See, the fix is in!' No, the reasons you thought he was going to come to the Dodgers were pretty compelling reasons. And he agreed and felt like we would be the best place to partner with."

Sasaki chose the Dodgers after generating interest from most teams across the league due to his affordability as an international amateur free agent. He named two other finalists, the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays, before ultimately deciding to go to L.A.

MLB also conducted an investigation before Sasaki was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines in December and found no indication of a handshake deal between him and the Dodgers.

Friedman believes several factors helped tip the scales.

"Our city, our fans, our ability to help make players better, friends and familiar faces that he already knows - there are so many reasons that we felt like - and obviously we are biased - that it made sense but we weren't sure how it was going to land with a 23-year-old," the executive explained.

Sasaki praised the Dodgers' front office stability during his introductory press conference on Wednesday. He also said that while he is excited to play alongside Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, he didn't prioritize teaming up with other Japanese players when evaluating his options.

The right-hander is set to join an incredible Dodgers starting rotation that includes Ohtani, Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Blake Snell.